We Met in the Middle of a Tavern Brawl
by AzraelRyell
Summary: What happens when an assassin from the Vastayan Rebellion meets a handsome, charming, and very silly Vastaya? Story about Xayah and Rakan's first meeting and onwards.
1. Chapter 1

The Demacian tavern was busier than expected, not that Xayah was complaining. The abundance of people and Vastaya made it easier for her to blend in unnoticed. Every table in the old tavern was filled, Xayah herself sitting near one of the side walls so she could monitor both the exit and her target. Said target was the burly man flirting at the bar, the woman of his affections eating up every word. Xayah couldn't say she found him attractive, too little animal features, but she could understand why the human woman was intrigued. Aside from his large, muscular appearance, the man had a handsome face with light eyes and dark hair. His smile was one of power, confidence, and blisteringly white teeth. The woman was also quite the looker, with voluminous curves and long blonde hair. It was clear the two were made for each other, though Xayah was going to have to cut their meeting short. As she stood to make her move, the man whispered something to the woman, causing her to giggle, and walked away from the bar towards the back of the tavern. Seeing as the woman didn't look distraught in any way, Xayah sat back down and took a sip from her drink. While it would have been easier to assassinate the man as he went to the bathroom, or whatever he was doing, Xayah wanted to make his death a public spectacle. She had a message to get across and people needed to see it.

Xayah continued watching the blonde woman, waiting for her to show some indication that the man was returning. It had only been about a minute before someone sat in the stool next to her. Xayah could tell by the feathers protruding from his cheekbones, along with his long, red ears, that he was a Vastaya. His hair was the same color as his feathers, a light blonde that looked almost white, with the exception of a small area of red on top of his head. He was wearing a magnificent cape of colorful feathers; a brilliant mixture of greens, reds, and bright golds. The feathers shined, even in the dim light of the tavern, which is what drew her attention to the cape in the first place. His eyes were of a similar brightness, though were a light blue instead of a shining gold. His face was far more handsome than her target's, bragging a sort of symmetry not seen in humans. Handsome as he was, though, Xayah's golden eyes narrowed at the new guest. Her long, red ears tilted forward slightly to tune her hearing in the new man's direction, trying to pick up on what he was saying to the woman her target was after.

"So… come here often?" Xayah almost scoffed at the Vastayan's silky voice saying a line of such… cheesiness. The woman across from him seemed entranced, though, and leaned forward to show her interest. Xayah continued to listen to their boring drabble of conversation as the minutes drew on, having nothing to better to do as she waited for her target to return. As if on que, she spotted the large man making his way back through the crowd in the tavern, his confident smile turning into a face of distain when he saw another was making advances on his woman.

"Hey!" the man's loud, deep voice was enough to silence all conversations in the tavern and draw everyone's attention to what was about to happen at the bar. "You Vastayan punk! What do you think you're doing?!" her target yelled, getting close enough to the handsome Vastaya that their foreheads were mere inches from each other. The Vastaya raised his hands in a defensive gesture, as if to say he had no weapons. This gesture did nothing to calm her target. If anything, his features became more warped by his anger. "When you animals do things like this it only makes me want to stick you all in cages where you belong," her target growled out, grabbing the collar of the Vastaya's cape. The Vastayan population in the tavern all noticeably bristled, including Xayah herself. The large man went by the name of Terian Krahn. He was a famous Noxian hunter who worked in an industry that captured her kind and sold them to the wealthy of his land. Whether it was as a slave or for their animalistic features, those he captured lost their lives forever. Xayah made to stand again, determining now was the perfect time to silence the man and take care of his industry's best for good. She was once again stopped, this time by the Vastayan man in her target's strong grasp. He was… _smiling_.

"I was just making sure this lovely lady" he sent a wink to the blonde who was shying away from the two men "was entertained for the night. She was looking so bored talking to you since you're all money and no personality," the woman blanched at this statement, confirming that she was only into Terian for his known large amounts of money. Terian didn't seem to believe him and paid no attention to the woman. She took this as her chance to leave and blended into the crowd, no doubt going towards the exit. Xayah kept her attention on the two men by the bar, the larger growing more and more pissed by the second. When he reached into his coat, Xayah leaped over the tables to reach Terian before he could hurt the Vastayan.

As she was doing so, one of the other bargoers yelled "Fight!" and all hell broke loose. Vastaya turned against human, bottles were thrown, tables flipped, weapons drawn, and noise levels through the roof. Xayah tuned it all out and focused on her target, only to see that the Vastaya he had just previously been threatening was gone. Terian looked as confused as she was, looking at his still closed fist and the empty space in front of him. Xayah only gave it a moment of thought before pulling out one of her many feather daggers from her belt. Without saying a word, she stepped up to the befuddled man and slit his throat, leaving him no time to even be surprised at her actions. Xayah moved away slightly to avoid getting the spurting blood on her clothes before scanning the still brawling crowd, looking for an exit. She decided to skirt around the edge of the fighting to avoid being seen.

Once she had made it out to the far cooler street, still able to hear the sounds of the tavern brawl, Xayah walked towards the inn she was staying at. _It's a shame I couldn't make a public spectacle of Terian but the fight breaking out and his death being discovered at the end of it should make enough of a statement._ Xayah thought as she walked, about half way to her inn. Still on high alert, she notices a presence following not far behind her. The town was populated enough that it wasn't unusual for people to be out this late, as seen by the large population in the tavern, though it was unusual for someone to be going the same direction as her seeing as the inn she had chosen was one of the worst ones in town. This was done partially because she needed to lay low while plotting the murder of a well-known figure and partially because fighting in a rebellion did not pay well. She turned her long ears slightly back to try and figure out how large the person who was following her was based on the heaviness of their footfalls. Whoever it was, they were male. His larger feet caused a longer sound each time he took a step. In order to test if they were actually following her, Xayah decided to take a convoluted path back to her inn. Turning into one of the many alleys that littered the town, she quickened her pace. The footsteps matched her pace and followed her path and, after the third turn she took down a random alley, her suspicions were confirmed. Sliding one of her feather daggers into her hand and angling it in such a way that it wouldn't be seen, she turned to face her guest.

"Hello?" Xayah called out to the dark figure now in front of her, unable to make out much other than long, pointed ears, even with her Vastayan vision.

"Hello!" he called back, moving into the dim light she had happened to pause under. When he was finally illuminated, she saw the long cape and bright blue eyes of the Vastayan man from the bar.

"Can I help you?" Xayah asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. She hadn't a clue as to why he would follow her.

"I just wanted to tell you thanks," his smooth voice held a chipper tone to it as he smiled down at her. Though he had seemed tiny compared to the larger frame of Terian, he was still at least a head taller than her, forcing her to look up at him.

"Thanks for what?"

"Killing that guy. It was awesome!" Xayah flinched at the volume of his voice. She wondered if he had seen her kill Terian, who else did? Were they also following her? If so, they would have definitely heard the Vastayan man yell just now. She grabbed his arm and quickly pulled him with her. "Hey, where are we going?" he asked _at least_ a million times, only quieting down when she turned to glare at him. She quickly walked back to the inn and hurried up to her room, not giving the other patrons a second glance. She did notice a few of them turn heads at her companion's bright cape but hoped none of them would care to remember. When they arrived at her room, Xayah sat the man down on the bed and paced around the room, arms crossed. "Oh I see! You want to have some fun," he said, giving her the same wink as he did the woman at the bar.

"No you idiot!" she growled at him. She could feel her long nails digging into the skin of her palms as she clenched her fists in anger. The assassin moved to the window, peering down in a manner so she could see the street but no one on the street could see her. There didn't appear to be anyone outside of the small inn, but that didn't mean much if her stalker was skilled at tailing in any way. While she was doing this, the man inspected the room curiously, getting bored within seconds after noticing the large lack of… anything. So he decided to watch Vastayan woman instead. She had a simple look about her, wearing dark clothes a long, purple feathered cloak with two cute holes for her ears. Her deep red hair was pulled to one side with her bangs covering the eye on the same side. Her eyes were a beautiful gold that was hardened after years of working as an assassin. It was her face that betrayed her livelihood, curved and soft with a light blush on her cheeks. When she began to turn back toward him, the man looked away, actually afraid to be caught staring for once.

"Anyway," he continued from before now that the woman wasn't looking as on edge "I wanted to thank you for taking care of that guy,"

The Vastayan man stood and bent over into a deep bow in front of Xayah, holding his glorious cape up as he did so. "My name is Rakan" he said his name in a strange fake accent "and I owe you a favor,"

Xayah looked at Rakan, confused over his… odd actions and demeanor. She realized after a few moments, as he stayed in his bent position, that he was waiting for her to respond. "I'm Xayah," she finally said, determining that this man was no threat to her safety, lest he yell and give away her location again. Rakan took this as a sign he could stand straight again and looked at her expectantly. She knew he was waiting for her to ask for something but nothing came to mind. After seeing him slip away from Terian and, more surprisingly, her at the tavern earlier, she made a decision. "Stay with me until I can think of a favor to ask," she said with a sly smile, looking up at Rakan.

"It's a deal," Rakan said as a smile stretched across his own lips.


	2. Chapter 2

The hard carpet of the crappy motel bit into Rakan's _perfectly_ sculpted cheeks, once again waking him up from his fitful sleep. He couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten stuck into this situation. The lightly sleeping Vastayan assassin on the bed to the right of him reminded the charmer that he had chosen to do this. It didn't make the situation any less annoying, though. Rakan was a man that required at least a few hours of sleep a night to keep up his _devilishly_ perfect appearances. The Vastayan man sat up as quietly as possible, his current lack of cape on his back making the maneuver easy enough. Using his enhanced vision, he looked around the room, trying to find something soft and long to lie on. When he had first lain down, he thought of himself as genius for thinking of using his cape as a pseudo-pillow, at least until he had realized his bare torso was instead rubbing against the terrible carpet. He then decided to stretch the cape out to full length, soon discovering that he was much taller than the cape was long. This is what led him to his current search.

As Rakan looked around silently, he considered what had happened that night. When he had seen the blonde lady at the bar, he felt obligated to give her some much needed attention after that boar (or bore, as he preferred) of a man had left to use the restroom. She was nice enough, if anything a bit air-headed, and provided some amusement for the night. When he had seen the look on the large man's face when he returned, though, he actually felt a slight twinge of fear for his safety. Rakan had seen the large dagger hanging at the man's waist as he moved his coat to retrieve it. The edge of the dagger was curved at wicked angles, a trademark of Noxian weapons, but was no doubt incredibly sharp. Rakan had begun considering his lack of options for escape when he saw a hooded figure, who he now knows was Xayah, gracefully darting over tables towards them. Her jump to action encouraged the other Vastayan bargoers to also leap to their feet and defend their heritage. The initial outburst caused the burly man to loosen his grip enough on Rakan's cape for the Vastaya to slip free and get away unnoticed. Before he left, though, he saw the hooded figure kill the Noxian hunter. While it was normally not his style to kill others, he had to admit that he instantly felt better when there was one less hunter in the world. At first, Rakan wasn't going to search out his savior for fear of his own safety after almost being killed himself, but after he saw the long ears coming out of the hood of her cloak, he knew that she wouldn't hurt him. So he waited until he saw her move around the edge of the brawl and followed her out into the street. Initially, he was going to simply walk up to her and thank her once he got outside but, as soon as he felt the kiss of the cool night air, he noticed she was already down the street and turning a corner. Rakan quickly walked after her, not wanting to run to catch up because he felt that would be too startling after previous events. Unfortunately, the assassin was taking quite a convoluted path at a very fast pace. That along with her dark clothes that seemed to blend into the walls of the alleys they were going down made it hard for the charmer to keep up, so he decided to quicken his pace. As he turned another corner, he saw she had stopped and was looking at him. Then, their first conversation began and he made the deal to stay with her until she thought of a favor, a relatively small price considering his life had been on the line just short of an hour prior.

It was what had happened after the deal that annoyed him. Xayah's first and last words after their verbal handshake were "You get the floor" before the rebel assassin turned off the lights, took off her cloak, pulled her long hair from its tie and braid, and lied down on the bed. Rakan was left standing there, stunned at the blunt statement. When the charmer realized she wasn't getting back up, he pulled off his cape and tried to get comfortable. Though he hated the rough carpet of the floor, it was clear the bed wasn't much better because of how long it had taken the assassin's breathing to deepen. So he had closed his eyes and hoped for the best, only to be awake and searching for comfort an hour later.

A shift in the bed drew Rakan from his thoughts. Xayah had moved in such a way that the blanket she was using was now hanging slightly off the side of the bed. A mischievous grin formed on the charmer's face and he inched closer to the edge of the bed. Once he was close enough to reach out and touch the mattress, Rakan stretched his arm out, barely being able to touch the blanket but being close enough to give it a light tug. It pulled out slightly from the assassin's body and hung lower, allowing him to get a better grip. As soon as he grab it the second time, a whistling noise sounded next to his ear and he felt a slight twinge of pain. Glancing behind his humorously outstretched body, he could see a small dagger that looked like a feather. When he turned back around, dangerous golden eyes glared back at him, a threat dancing just behind the stare. He took it as a sign to lie back down on his cape and accept the floor as his bed, staying completely silent and still for the rest of the night.

* * *

As soon as the warmth of the sun reached Xayah through the tattered shades on the window, she climbed out of the hard bed and walked into the small bathroom, closing the door behind her. Like the rest of her room at the inn, which contained only a bed, a small chair, a desk, and now a handsome Vastayan man on the floor, the bathroom only had the bare minimum for living. The assassin turned on the sink, the old pipes groaning for a second before water came out of the spigot. In the dusty, cracked mirror, Xayah could see the tired lines on her face. She never was a morning person and the uncomfortable bed of the inn definitely did not help with that. Scooping up a handful of water, Xayah washed the grime of the room off of her face quickly and walked back out into the main area so she could plan her day. When she walked out, the man she had left on the floor, Rakan, was awake and looking out the only window in the room. His cape was still off, on the chair now instead of the floor, and Xayah couldn't help but notice the scars that laced the man's back. Some were old, others a slightly newer pink, but there were quite a few of them. Almost all of them were long lines that crisscrossed vertically, markings that were common when one was whipped frequently. _You were a slave._ The rebel assassin's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the realization but they then quickly narrowed in anger. This was what she was trying to stop. The Vastayan people didn't deserve this. They were the ones who understood the magic of the land and worked with it to create beauty. Then, those Ionian _spiritual_ leaders decided they knew what was best and tried to lock it away. Xayah almost growled out loud at the thought of those _humans_ imprisoning anything that was connected to the wild magic, caging her people and destroying the lands she grew up on just to control what should be left free. When she noticed bright blue eyes looking at her, she was pulled from her thoughts. They looked at each other for a minute, Rakan's face neutral. Xayah moved her gaze to the floor, mouth opening to apologize for staring when the Vastayan man spoke. "I know. I'm beautiful," Xayah looked up sharply and saw a huge, shit-eating grin on Rakan's face. The assassin rolled her eyes and motioned Rakan over to the small table, anger momentarily forgotten.

There were two sheets of paper on the tabletop along Xayah's small pack of necessities. Pulling a pencil out of the small pack, the assassin circled a name on one of the papers and showed it to her companion. "Do you know who this is?" she asked, pointing to the name she circled amidst the plethora of information she had on her target. Rakan leaned closer and inspected the neat handwriting.

"Roku Nakahara? Can't say I've ever heard of him,"

"He's one of the elders of a village near Captial City in Ionia. He's currently in Demacia on a political trip. I have sources that tell me he's been using magic to threaten small nearby villages into giving him money, which he uses solely on himself while his village struggles. He's about to make a deal with a Demacian advisor to exchange some of the magic he's contained for the advisor's influence with the king," Xayah looked back to Rakan and saw a quick flash of anger cross his features. While she was sure he wasn't a part of the rebellion, it was clear he did not agree with the practices of the corrupt Ionian elder. "Unfortunately, the man is very heavily guarded by both Demacian guards and his own personal security. That makes this mission hard for me to complete alone. Based on what had happened at the tavern and when you tried to steal my blanket" Rakan paled at the mention of her catching him last night "I can tell you're good enough at moving around unnoticed when you want to help me with this mission,"

"What do you need me to do?"

"To put it simply, I need you to stand watch while I deal with the elder. Consider this my favor," Xayah picked up the other paper from the table, Rakan briefly seeing that it was the schematics to a house that the elder was presumably staying. The charmer knew that when she said "deal with the elder", she meant she was going to kill him. While Rakan wasn't a fan of murdering someone in cold blood, he trusted Xayah's judgement on the matter after her actions last night. "The meeting is taking place in Demacia's captial tomorrow night so we're leaving soon in order to get there by tonight and scope out the area. Meet me at the front of the inn in three hours," Xayah folded up the papers in her hands and put them in her pack, grabbing her cloak before leaving Rakan alone in the room.

* * *

Three hours later, the two Vastayan met at the entrance of the inn, Rakan now having his own small pack. Xayah had figured it held a change of clothes and a few other necessities but, when Rakan pulled it open to grab something from inside, she saw that it was filled with various types of apples. "Really?" she laughed as the charmer took a bite of the green apple he had pulled out. Rakan shrugged, attempting to say something but only managing to get apple bits all over the ground. Xayah shook her head and began walking towards the edge of the town they were in, Rakan following in suit.

It only took Xayah and Rakan about five hours to reach the seaside capital of Demacia, the sun still bright but approaching the horizon when they arrived. The journey had been relatively uneventful. The only time either of them talked was when Rakan would repeatedly ask "Are we there yet?" and Xayah would respond with a flat and simple "No". Even with the lack of conversation, Rakan amused himself by scanning the scenery as they walked by, the subtle slope of the road they were on signifying how different the rest of the nation was from its capital. When they were a few miles down the plateau that contained the rest of the nation's cities, Rakan could see the brilliant white spires of The Capital and the bright blue sea beyond it above the thinning treeline. Xayah could tell by his eyes constantly shifting that he had never been to The Capital, though she didn't bother to ask because they were parting after the mission anyways and unnecessary information would just lead to connections she couldn't afford to make. She was a lone assassin of the Vastayan rebellion and would remain as such due to events of her past. Getting attached only led to sadness and sadness did not solve the oppression of her people.

When they reached the borders of The Capital, the tall spires were now towering compared to before and the Conqueror's Sea could no longer be seen behind the large wall surrounding the city. There were many more people on the road now then there were earlier due to the fame of The Capital. It was known to not only be a large port, but also a multicultural and academic hub. People from all walks of life were moving through the pristine gates, hardened guards in shining armor watching each one of them with careful eyes. Xayah and Rakan joined the crowd entering the city, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible to avoid the attention of the guards. Though their animalistic features would normally make them stand out, there was a decent number of Vastaya on their way into The Capital and their passage went unnoticed. Once they were in the city, Rakan couldn't help but feel out of place due to the uptight and proper scenery that surrounded them. It was almost like every bright brick on the road and every edge of each building was measured by the smallest unit to ensure perfection. It was a stark difference compared to the small town they had just come from and the wild Ionian forest he grew up in. They wondered for a bit, Xayah leading the way to wherever they were going to stay while they weren't looking around the guest house they needed to infiltrate the next night. They passed many different types of buildings, though all were either made white marble or a pale yellow brick. The most notable building they passed was The Golden Round. It was a large theatre that was covered in lavish golden banners to highlight it as a building of importance compared to its neighbors. Many people in formal outfits were lining up outside of the grand building, signifying that a performance would be occurring soon. Rakan could feel himself get excited at the idea of seeing whatever spectacle was inside, though he was sure his clothes alone would disqualify him from entering. His excitement didn't escape Xayah's notice and she couldn't help herself but ask "Do you like music?"

It was the first non-mission related question she had ever asked Rakan and it took him off guard for a moment. Once he got passed the surprise, he answered "Yes. Everyone in my family in Ionia was very musically talented and my mother would have killed me if I didn't learn how to dance. What about you?"

"Can't say I've ever really had the time to enjoy it much," Xayah glanced over to the theatre, feeling as though she was missing out on something.

"Well, maybe one day I can take you somewhere to listen to some," the charmer smiled sadly. Music was a very important part of his life and without it he wasn't sure what he would do. The world would be so much more boring and dull. They walked for a few more moments in silence before Xayah stopped in front of a smaller building. The sign hanging above the door read "Inn", indicating to Rakan that this was their stop. Rakan held the inn's simple brown door open for Xayah and followed her into the white building. The assassin spent no time looking around, instead approaching a short man standing behind a counter. He had a plain look about him; short brown hair covered his head and a pair of glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose, slipping off slightly due to his head being tilted down to read a book. He looked up from said book when Xayah stopped in front of the counter. The man, who Rakan assumed to be the innkeeper due to the log books sitting on the counter next to his book, paused for a moment to take in her unusual appearance before speaking.

"How may I help you?" his nasally yet proper voice was almost as plain as his appearance.

"I was wondering if you had a room for me and my friend here to stay in for the night," Xayah said, pointing to where Rakan was standing behind her. The innkeeper looked at him for a minute before pushing his glasses further up his nose and opening the log book to the right of him.

"The only room we have available right now has one bed. If that is all right with you, you can have it," the edge of Xayah's mouth twitched in annoyance. It wasn't ideal but it would do.

"We'll take it," she pulled a few gold coins out of her pack and laid them on the counter. The innkeeper inspected them quickly and, after deeming it enough money, told her the number to the room they would be staying in and pointed out the dining room. The two Vastaya walked to the wooden stairs near the side wall, leaving the innkeeper to continue where he left off in his book. Once they reached their room on the second floor, they dropped off their few belongings and went back downstairs to get dinner. The inn's dining room, like the rest of the building, was small but homey. The interior of the building, like last inn, was wooden but had a clean shine and was in a more organized state. A hearth in the corning of the dining room held a steady flame that helped warm the inside of the room as the cool night began to set in. There were a few other patrons sitting and eating a delicious smelling stew as Xayah and Rakan walked in. Xayah grabbed a table in the corner of the room while Rakan went to get them both a bowl of stew from the cook. When he returned, they ate in silence, something the charmer was used to after the quiet day. While he usually enjoyed conversation, he could enjoy a bit of silence every so often.

Once they were done eating, they returned to their room. It was quite a lot bigger than the last one. There was a small dining table along with two chairs and a desk. A sliding door on one of the walls covered a small closet and next to it was the door to the bathroom. Everything was kept up and neat which made Rakan happy but, unlike in the last room, it was not carpeted. The charmer did not want to sleep on a hard wooden floor after the night on the rough carpet. As Xayah prepared to sleep, taking off her cloak and undoing her hair, Rakan stood by the edge of the bed, looking at it longingly. Xayah noticed his upset features and rolled her eyes. "We can share the bed, you know. It's big enough this time," she said while she put her cloak on one of the chairs next to the table. Rakan's face lit up at her words and he pulled off his cape, leaving it on the adjacent chair. The assassin let out a small sigh of laughter at the man's giddy demeanor and climbed into the bed, scooting over to the far edge and facing the wall before shutting her eyes. She felt the mattress depress as Rakan lied down on the other side.

"Hey, Xayah?" he asked quietly, the pitch of his voice peaking at the end indicating he had a question.

"Yes?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

"Can I have part of the blanket this time?"

Xayah's response was throwing another feather dagger in his direction.

 **A/N: Hello all. Thank you for the reviews so far :)! It's nice to know that people care enough to leave them. Hope you enjoyed the second chapter.**

 **-AzraelRyell**


	3. Chapter 3

"So this is where… what's his name again?"

"Roku"

"Right. So this is where Rako is staying? Impressive,"

Xayah let out an annoyed sigh and decided it wasn't worth her time to correct Rakan again. She had to have said the elder's name at least twenty times by now. Maybe more since she was only counting the number of times she had to repeat what their mission was to her partner. The charmer was right about something, though. The building in front of them was more than just impressive, it was _breath-taking._ The grand structure was made almost completely of marble, large columns signifying the front of the house. The only parts that weren't a brilliant white were a shining gold that crawled around the columns, reflecting the sun onto the walkway in front of the building in such a way that created a beautiful weaving pattern on the path. From the roof of the adjacent building, Xayah could see a plethora of windows around the sides of the house, no doubt to let the bright sun in for natural lighting. A large pool of water along with a sitting area in the middle of a garden was behind the house, hidden from the world but still as beautiful as the main entrance. In contrast to all of the beauty, the assassin noted the guards in dark uniforms that stood out among all the white and gold. She was sure that by nighttime those guards would be virtually invisible. They had spent the majority of the morning double checking the blueprints Xayah had received from her source and tracking the guard shifts to see when they would have an opening to break into the house. Fortunately, Xayah's blueprints seemed accurate. Unfortunately, the guards had random shift changes, meaning they would have to guess when to break into the extravagant building. Folding up her blueprints, Xayah signaled to Rakan that they were leaving and head back towards the stairs that allowed them to access the roof. As they were walking out, the guards they had knocked out and tied up when they entered the unmarked building started coming to. They attempted to yell but found quickly that their voices were silenced by the tape over their mouths. Xayah couldn't help but shoot the one closest to the entrance a feral smile as they left since she knew no one would find a trace of the two of them until they were long gone.

* * *

The two Vastaya decided that they would stay at the inn until the sun set for the day and gave them the cover of darkness for their mission. This, of course, led to a very bored Rakan.

"Hey Xayah," he began. Xayah could hear the smile in his voice and, despite working, decided to humor him anyways.

"What?" she didn't even bother turning from the notes she was taking on the blueprints in front of her when she responded, instead continuing to mark the possible areas they could enter from without being seen.

"Where did you grow up? Ionia?" the charmer asked.

"I grew up in the Lhotlan lands, in the southern part of the forest," Xayah could remember the trees pulsing with magic and the different array of avian Vastaya she grew up with. She couldn't help the pang of regret that briefly overtook her. She had left her entire family behind in that forest. The assassin wondered whether or not they even really remembered her considering how early she had left. She had only been eight years of age when her passionate flame for protecting her kind was ignited.

"Oh! I was in the western forest. Near the mountains," Rakan said excitedly. Due to them both being avian Vastaya, Xayah wasn't surprised they were from the same area in Ionia. The charmer, on the other hand, was fascinated by the close proximity of their original homes. "I don't think I was ever very far south. Did you see the western side?"

"No," Xayah started mentally pulling herself from the conversation so she could give her full attention to the work in front of her. What Rakan said next, though, snapped her attention back to him.

"That's unfortunate. It was a beautiful place before it was destroyed," Long ears twitching at the last word, Xayah turned around sharply.

"What?" her eyes widened when she saw the look of sadness in Rakan's eyes.

"The western side of the Lhotlan lands was destroyed by the Noxians in their invasion of Ionia. Everyone left alive was taken… as slaves. You didn't know? The rebellion didn't know?" Rakan looked into her eyes and could see anger and confusion, feelings he was beginning to have himself. How could have the rebellion not known about the mass destruction? The rest of the Lhotlan tribe was able to stop the Noxian invaders before they had gotten past the western forest but… so many of their kind were forced into a life of slavery because of the invasion, including himself. He had always assumed the rebellion had been too small at the time to come and help but, with Xayah's reaction, it looked as if they hadn't even known.

Anger was bubbling inside of Xayah. The entire western side of her homeland had been destroyed by invaders and she had been gone, not able to help defend against the Noxian scum. And the rebellion hadn't even known. After this mission, she would be sure to bring it up to Alakir. Someone would be punished for making such a large mistake. She focused on Rakan again and saw the anger she felt, not enough to warp the charmer's features but enough to darken his normally happy and bright eyes. The assassin stood up, walked over to the side of the bed, and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry," she said, her long bangs hiding the shame she was sure was evident on her face. The rebellion had let him and part of her tribe down; she was the reason the long scars marred the beautiful man sitting in front of her. Rakan placed his hand on the assassin's head, causing her to straighten. He didn't say a word but the small smile on his face was enough to show her that she was forgiven. So Xayah took all the shame, hurt, anger, and disappointment she felt and turned it into determination. They had a mission to complete and those emotions would only harm their goals. The two would figure out what had happened to the western forest all those years ago after killing Roku.

* * *

The sun was drooping under the horizon when the two Vastaya left the inn. Within the few minutes that it took them to make their way over to the house of white and gold, the light from the star was almost completely gone for the night and the moon wasn't making an appearance. The hextech lights that lined the street provided enough lighting for the pedestrians but the roofs next to them were completely dark, providing a perfect cover for Xayah and Rakan. They worked their way from the rooftops into the same building they were watching from before, the men they had tied up prior still there when the pair arrived. Most were asleep but those who weren't squirmed either in anger or fear at the sight of the assassin and her companion. Xayah ignored most of them except for one. The guard was one of the few that were awake, his eyes smoldering when the assassin walked up. She knelt down and reached for the pair of hextech binoculars on the man's belt, the movement causing him to start flailing wildly. Xayah hissed and pulled back at the sudden resistance. She then proceeded to stand and give the guard a swift kick to the stomach, his groans of pain muffled by the tape over his mouth. The assassin was about to let out a string of swears at the man, angry that she had been caught off-guard, but a chuckle from behind her caused her to turn. Rakan was laughing quietly at her expense. "What?" she growled while reaching down to grab the hextech binoculars.

"Nothing nothing." he let out another small laugh "You're just a lot more… _vicious_ than I thought. It's kind of hot,"

Xayah felt her cheeks warm slightly, hiding the guaranteed color change from her companion by walking away towards the stairs. While she had heard compliments about her appearance before, not many people around her age had ever spent enough time with her to pick up on her personality. The assassin wasn't about to let the charmer's comment get to her, though. Not after what she saw at the bar. The Vastayan man was clearly a womanizer and she didn't plan to let him tag along after the mission.

The two Vastaya reached the roof and stood by the edge they were at earlier in the day. The black sky allowed them to remain completely undetected from the guards covering the building next to them. "So how do we get in?" Rakan said quietly, glancing over at his companion. Xayah pointed to a set of windows directly across from them and handed him the recently acquired hextech binoculars. Rakan looked through the strange device and was able to see clearly despite the almost complete lack of light. The windows looked similar to the others that covered the outside of the house except for one key difference. Instead of having no clear way of opening them, this set of windows only had a simple lock that prevented them from swinging open in the strong seaside winds. The best part was this lock could easily be opened silently with just a long, thin dagger.

"We enter through there when the guards change shifts. Once they do, you throw this to distract them so I can jump across unnoticed," Xayah handed her companion a small, orange hand mirror that she had taken from their room's bathroom before they left. While it would have been easier to just throw a rock or something, the pristine city did an excellent job cleaning up any loose rubble they could find. Rakan inspected the small trinket and, when he figured it out, opened it, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"Why hello beautiful," he waggled his eyebrows at himself, loving the unusual pattern the small bunches of hair chose to grow in to. Xayah rolled her eyes and grabbed the binoculars from his other hand. She was able to see almost everything with the contraption due to its ability to pick up heat signatures. Its vision couldn't breach the walls of the building in front of them, though, probably due to heavy amounts of insulation to keep the heat from the vibrant sun out. What she found strange was the fact she couldn't see through the windows despite the binoculars night-vision. Unfortunately, there was no time to plan for whatever may be causing the lack of vision. Turning her sights back to the guards below, the assassin noticed the guards getting fidgety.

"Go get ready," Xayah whispered, scooting closer to the edge of the building. "And make sure you wait until the old guards are completely out of sight and hearing range," looking back at her companion, she could see Rakan's blue eyes light up with excitement before he raced off down the stairs. Now it was just a matter of time before her plan was set into motion.

After a few minutes, the assassin watched the guards pass off their posts. A few minutes after that, she heard the click of something landing on the path nearby. The guards had noticed it too and walked off in the direction it came from, all the way back by the street. Xayah put the binoculars down and perched herself on the ledge, shifting all her power into the bottom of her feet. Determined golden eyes narrowed onto her target and she shoved off the edge. One of Xayah's favorite parts about being in the rebellion was that she could leap from buildings like this as part of her job. Despite being avian Vastaya, most of her friends and family growing up were not able to fly. They made up for this by being excellent runners and jumpers, giving them the feeling of flight for a few precious seconds. Xayah took this to an extreme and spent much of her time in the southern forest leaping from tree branch to tree branch, sometimes being able to stay in the air for a full half minute if she used her cloak to glide. It was the closest she would ever be to the freedom of soaring through the sky and, while it wasn't ideal, she was okay with that.

Xayah felt the wind in her face and ripping through her hair, the hood she had on only staying in place due to her long ears being pushed through the top. The blissful feeling lasted only a second before she landed on the ledge of her mark's building with a quiet _thump_. When the assassin didn't hear any shouting from the guards below, she knew that her companion had been successful at drawing them away. Pulling out one of her feather daggers, she began working on flipping the lock open. It only took her a few seconds to do so but Xayah still felt the rush in her ears from jumping and she wasn't sure how long the guards would be investigating the mysterious noise Rakan had created. The lock popped open and she carefully moved to one side of the windowsill to allow half of the window to open. Once it had, the assassin began to make her way inside, only to be stopped by a whooshing noise in her ear and a pair of arms wrapping around her torso. "The guards are on their way back," a familiar voice whispered in her ear, smile evident in his tone. Xayah tsked at her companion and pulled herself from his arms so she could enter the building. As soon as she passed through the threshold of the window, she felt a small pulse of magic pass through her. Blinking in confusion, the assassin inspected the area around her and listened. The house was almost dead silent, meaning whatever she felt hadn't been an alarm. Shrugging to herself and dismissing the magic as only the thing that prevented her from looking into the building, Xayah turned back to Rakan, who was still smiling on windowsill.

"You're lucky I didn't shove you off," she said angrily, lowering her voice as much as possible to avoid breaking the silence in the household.

"I would have just jumped back," the charmer said in an equally quiet voice before stepping onto the floor next to her.

"How did you do that anyways?" Xayah asked as she peered out the window, seeing the guards on the ground return with looks of confusion before closing it quietly.

"I'll tell you later," Rakan looked around the hallway they had stepped into. The walls inside of the house were much darker than its exterior though the décor was just as extravagant. Intricate paintings and vases were placed tastefully along the walls, providing those walking down the long hallway something to look at as the navigated the house. The hardwood floor was covered with a soft red carpet that seemed to go on forever, the real gold trimming signifying the quality of the material. There were at least four doors lining the wall adjacent to the window the two Vastaya had entered through, no doubt leading to some of the many bedrooms located in the house. While they weren't entirely sure which room Roku was staying in, the pair had guessed he would be in the biggest bedroom, located near the center of the massive house. Keeping to the shadows caused by the soft, dim lighting in the house, Xayah led the way as they wondered to the end of the hall. The assassin peered around the corner, looking and listening for any signs of life, her ears twitching in attention. Rakan kept track of what was going on behind them, making sure no one would sneak up on them as they made their way through the building. It was slow work. The two Vastaya had to make sure they weren't detected by any that may be below them or around the corner, keeping their footsteps soft and on the carpet when they could. It took them about 15 minutes to shuffle their way to a set of side stairs in the back of the house. Keeping on the far wall so they could see anyone heading up the stairs, Xayah and Rakan made their way down towards the middle floor of the building, which was one floor above where they needed to go. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, a soft melody started. The soothing sound of the instruments did nothing but strike fear into Xayah. It meant that the pulse of magic she had felt earlier should not have been dismissed so quickly and Roku knew the two Vastaya were in the house. Pounding footsteps of guards approached them and the assassin could see a terrifying purple field of magic drop over the outside wall of the house, the same field they had walked through earlier but now visible. Xayah quickly pulled out a dagger and threw it at the dark barrier to test its purpose, only to watch as the magenta feather disintegrated on impact. "We're going to have to fight our way out," she turned to her companion. The charmer nodded with a determined look on his face.

"I can draw their attention then you can take it from there," Xayah pulled out a set of daggers in response and pushed herself against the wall next to the threshold that led out to the hallway, showing her trust in his plan. Rakan smiled at her and put his hand on her cheek briefly before rushing out into battle. The assassin didn't have time to even blush before the sounds of weapons being drawn reached her. She peered around the threshold to see the charmer _literally_ drawing the attention of everyone around him, beautiful golden particles of magic pouring out of him. Despite some of the guards having pulled out their weapons before he had reached them, they were entranced by the magic flowing around her partner. It almost seemed as if he was dancing as he weaved between the crowd, his brilliant cape adding to the illusion. Xayah forced herself to look away and instead focused her aim. She threw five daggers, each one hitting a non-lethal point on five separate guards' legs. The assassin wasn't planning on starting a war with Demacia. It would just add to the rebellion's struggle against the corruption in Ionia. So she simply incapacitated the guards for the time being. Xayah repeated this process until every one of the twenty or so guards in front of her were on the floor, Rakan standing in the middle of their downed forms. He flashed the assassin a smile and the two rushed through the groaning guards towards the source of the music. As they ran down the stairs, another guard with a crossbow stood in their path and aimed straight at Rakan. Xayah didn't give him a chance to even think about shooting her companion and launched a dagger into his arm at lightning speed, causing him to drop his weapon. She threw another dagger at his leg to prevent him from standing and, as they ran by, swiftly kicked him in the back of the head to knock him out. The charmer in front of her chuckled at her actions as he had earlier in the day and she couldn't help but join in. Despite the relatively dangerous situation they were in, the assassin was enjoying herself.

The music the two Vastaya were hearing was coming from the master bedroom where they assumed Roku to be staying. Xayah didn't hesitate shoving the intricate double doors that led to the bedroom open, revealing a room bathed in light. Her target was standing next to the bed in an elaborate white gown with long sleeves, the outfit no doubt meant for sleeping. A small hextech music player was sitting on the bedside table near him, still playing the sweet melody from before, though now it only sounded haunting. The bed itself had purple satin sheets and large amount of pillows; too many to use practically. The harsh hextech lights were almost blinding after being adjusted to the dim light of the hallway and the complete blackness of outside, forcing Xayah and Rakan's to wait a moment for their eyes to readjust. The moment of hesitation allowed the guards that were hiding behind the doors to grab the pair and prevent them from moving or attacking the elder. Xayah shouted in anger, her mark standing only a few feet in front of her; a few seconds away from being silenced. The balding man chuckled, the sound consisting of a deep rumble that spewed evil intentions. "You thought you could kill me that easily, puny assassin?" Roku walked up to Xayah and grabbed her chin, allowing her to see every wrinkle on his aged face. "So young… so naïve. You know nothing of the world, girl," he let go and turned away from her.

"I've seen enough to know that you're someone that doesn't belong in it. You twist beautiful magic into that" the assassin jerked her chin to the magic barrier outside of the door "for your own greedy purposes,"

Roku laughed again and turned back to the pair of avian Vastaya. "Magic was not made to be free. It was made to be controlled; to conquer lands and defend against enemies. If we had a better grip on magic during the Noxian invasion, or if your people had even bothered to lift a finger to defend our lands, none of the mass destruction that occurred years ago would have happened,"

"We _did_ offer to help! Your people decided to enslave mine instead of work together!" Xayah spat at the man, the anger she felt evident on her face. Roku dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand.

"Details. That only occurred because the Vastaya were trying to stop Ionia from controlling what belonged to us. Enough of this petty political talk. I think it's time for you to understand just useless your rebellion is," the elder snapped his fingers and twenty-something guards walked into the bedroom, one hostage in each of their clutches. The hostages were chained and had hoods covering their faces. Their clothes were almost completely in tatters, only a few pieces of cloth remaining on their bodies. The guard in front shoved his hostage before Roku and removed the hood, revealing the beautiful face and brilliant white hair of a female fox Vastaya. She was older but Xayah could tell by the hardened look in her eyes and her toned muscles that she was from the rebellion, though the assassin did not recognize her. "As I'm sure you've already noticed, Katsa is a part of your pathetic rebellion," the fox woman hissed at Roku when he insulted her cause. "It was quite easy to capture her. She had been running medical supplies to your camp a few miles north from Capital City in Ionia," Xayah and Katsa both paled at the elder's knowledge of one of their main camps. If he knew where it was there was a good chance everyone at the camp was in danger, or worse, dead. "You would think that because she was so close to what she calls freedom that she would never have been in danger. But here we are," Roku pulled a knife from the inside of one of his long sleeves and lowered it to her throat. Xayah tried to turn away when she saw the knife, knowing what Roku was about to do. The elder laughed and snapped his fingers, an order to the guard holding her to force her head back to the scene in front of her. Roku grabbed the chin of Katsa and looked into the rebel's sharp eyes. "This is the price you pay for your foolishness," he sliced the knife across her throat and the hard determination disappeared from Katsa's eyes; her beautiful white hair stained red by her lifeblood. Xayah clenched her teeth in anger and lowered her head.

" _Um upo sat_ ," the assassin whispered, knowing that the fellow rebel would want the Vastayan words for freedom and magic to be said for her passing. Xayah forced herself to bite back the sadness and shame she felt and instead channeled both emotions into hate for the man in front of her. "You're a monster," she growled out, shifting in the tight hold of her guard. Roku snapped his fingers again, the second guard standing in the doorway walking forward with his hostage in response. When the hood was ripped off, Xayah's stomach dropped. This hostage was only a teenager, the smooth lines of the boy's face slightly raised due to the scales that indicated his Vastayan heritage. His terrified face was a stark contrast to Katsa's hardened features, telling a different story than the rebel's.

"Torin was taken from a Vastayan village under the protection of your rebellion. It didn't seem to do them much good," Roku sneered at her, placing the bloodied knife under the boy's chin. Xayah looked at the boy with a mixture of sadness and apology, trying to comfort him before he met his fate. Roku slashed again and the life drained from Torin's small body. The elder made a waving motion and the next hostage was brought in front of him. This cycle repeated for half an hour, Roku telling Xayah the name of the hostage and their connection to the rebellion before killing them in front of her and calling for the next. The assassin could feel herself breaking under the sheer amount of lives that were ended tonight because of her mistakes, the music that was still playing in the background plaguing her mind with negative thoughts. Had she paid more attention to the magical barrier she and Rakan had passed through or known about it before they even entered, all of the Vastaya dying before her could have been saved. Shame and sadness flooded through her body and she thought about how many things were done wrong. Movement next to her finally brought Xayah's attention to her forgotten companion and his captor. Rakan was visibly shaking in anger, the strain he was putting on the guard holding him evident. The charmer's face was warped in terrifying beauty, his bright eyes darker due to the murderous stare he was sending in Roku's direction. His anger revitalized her resolve. If Rakan, someone who wasn't actively part of the rebellion, could be passionate and energized enough about what was going on in front of him to almost break out of his captor's grasp by sheer willpower, she should be ashamed that she wasn't showing the same passion tenfold. Xayah straightened up slightly, the ease of movement informing the assassin that her captor had loosened his grip due to her apparently giving up. With this knowledge, Xayah turned back to Roku and the hostage kneeling in front of him; the last hostage. She could tell this one was clearly only a child by their small body and she was determined to make sure they got out alive. Roku pulled the hood off this time and a small girl with feathers poking from her cheeks was revealed. There was no doubt this girl was a member of Xayah and Rakan's tribe, though from where neither of them knew. She didn't seem scared of the man holding her down, her face sitting in a passive state. "We took little Steya here from northern Lhotlan lands, an area you're familiar of for sure. I can still remember her mother's screams as we took her away. The woman was part of your rebellion and couldn't do a thing to save her daughter, or herself for that matter," Roku lowered the knife to Steya's neck. "Looks like you will not be able to do anything to save her either,"

Xayah took this as her chance to wretch free of her captor and immediately reached into her cloak for a dagger. As soon as the assassin had one in her hand, she launched it at the elder. Roku was forced to drop the knife and raise both his hands to defend himself with his magic, the dark purple of the wall he created matching the barrier that encased the house. Steya took the opportunity to run from the man and into Rakan's arms, the charmer having broken free during the confusion of Xayah's abrupt escape. The guards that had been holding the two Vastaya were knocked out as well, Rakan's doing no doubt. Roku's face twisted in anger at the way the situation had been turned on him and pointed a bony finger at the Vastaya. "Kill them!" the guards that had been originally holding the other hostages stepped over the bodies lying at Roku's feet and drew their weapons. Xayah pulled out ten or so feathers and launched them at the guards standing before her. None of them hit the men guarding Roku and instead lodged into the wall behind them. The elder burst out into a dark laugh at the assassin's move. "It seems the best the rebellion could throw at me was an assassin that cannot even aim correctly!" Roku continued laughing and failed to notice Xayah's smirk. She lifted her arm in her enemies' direction and closed her now glowing open palm into a fist. The feathers behind the men began to glow a bright magenta and wavered slightly before yanking themselves out of the wall, Xayah's magic pulling them back to her at deadly speeds. The daggers pierced the bodies of the guards around Roku, causing them to drop to the ground, dead or otherwise, and leaving only the elder standing. He paled as soon as his guards fell, realizing his mistake too late. Xayah turned to Rakan during the slight pause in the battle.

"Get to the first floor and wait for the barrier to drop. You have to get Steya out of here safely," she gave Steya a small smile and looked back at Roku, preparing her next move.

"What about you?" the worry could be heard in Rakan's voice but Xayah was determined to kill the elder and get the child to safety.

"I'll be all right. You have my word," Rakan glanced from her to the elder before picking up Steya and leaving the room. As soon as they were gone, Xayah began throwing endless mounts of feather daggers at Roku. His magic was strong but not strong enough to hold up both the barrier and protect himself for an extended period of time. The old man knew this and was beginning to worry. He backed up until his back hit the wall next to the bed and the bedside table, picking up the music player that was still singing its sweet melody. When there was a break in the whistling from the daggers being pelted at him, the elder threw the small box at Xayah and sent a pulse of magic after it. The assassin only had a brief second to cover her face before the two impacted in front of her, causing a small explosion of magic and machinery. It gave Roku enough time to open a secret door behind him and slip through it into a dark tunnel. As soon as the smoke from the explosion cleared, Xayah angrily tore after the elder, knowing the old man wouldn't be able to get far due to his age. She only had to run a couple seconds through the dimly lit passage before she could see Roku in front of her. He was moving his hands in a complicated manner, no doubt preparing a trap while she had been running after him, her emotions blinding her judgement. And now she was caught in an enclosed area with no escape. Xayah moved to pull a dagger from her belt, infusing it with her magic. She would only have one shot before whatever spell Roku was preparing would kill her. Quickly taking aim, the assassin launched the glowing dagger at the elder in the same moment he fired a bolt of dark purple magic at her. Xayah closed her eyes afterwards and prepared for the numbness of death to hit her, whispering the same words she had said for Katsa after her death. As she was doing so, Xayah heard someone yell out her name and saw a bright golden light through her eyelids before she felt a sharp stab of pain and everything went black.

 **A/N: Here's chapter 3! Sorry for the delay. This week has been pretty stressful and I knew this chapter would be much longer than the others. Hope you all enjoy :)**

 **-AzraelRyell**


	4. Chapter 4

Xayah was sore, to say the least, when she woke up, but she did indeed wake up despite assuming a far worse fate. It took the assassin a few tries to sit up, the freshly wrapped bandages under a set of night clothes she'd never seen before stretching to conform to her movement. The early morning sun was peeking through the drawn shades, giving her enough light to realize that she didn't know where she was. She also couldn't hear the loud water birds that were typical to the seaside capital of Demacia, meaning she was entirely in the dark on her location. Xayah pulled herself out of the small bed she had probably been residing in for a few days, flinching whenever she pushed herself too far and aggravated her wounds, and inspected the damage dealt by Roku's attack. Lifting up her shirt and peeling off the bandages slightly, she could see the angry burns that bloomed up the left side of her body. They had definitely healed a bit, though, and were already beginning to scab. Unfortunately, the pain was still severe. The assassin put the bandages back on gently and took in the room around her. It wasn't very lavish, most of the shelves and tables were empty, but it had a homey feel with the minimal décor, warm colors, and wooden walls and floors. When Xayah tuned her ears to listen to see if anyone was nearby, she could hear Rakan talking to someone in the other room. Her companion sounded relatively happy based only on his word choice, as he was talking about his old home in the western Lhotlan forest, but Xayah could hear a hint of worry in his voice. _Probably because his home was destroyed._ she thought to herself. While listening in on his conversation, Xayah had started unconsciously moving towards the now familiar sound of the charmer's voice, forgetting momentarily that she was heavily injured. A sharp pain shot up from the assassin's leg to her chest and she cried out, falling to the ground after the pain caused weakness in her stance. She hit the wooden floor hard and every part of her body began to ache. Footsteps hurried outside after her shout and her door was flung open. Rakan, face painted with fear and concern, saw Xayah on the ground and immediately helped her stand and move back to the bed. After making sure she hadn't opened any of her wounds, the charmer watched the assassin, waiting to see what she would say or do. After the pain had subsided, she turned to him. "How am I still alive? Roku's magic was super-charged and the bolt he fired at me was powerful enough to destroy that house in one blast,"

"I know," Rakan responded, a small smile on his face. It was then Xayah noticed she wasn't the only one sporting bandages. The charmer's normally bare torso was almost completely covered on the right side and his perfect face covered in small cuts.

"You came back for me…," the assassin said quietly, more so to herself than her companion. While the rebellion was dear to her heart, she recognized that if her life was in danger, none of the other rebels would come for her. Their cause was too large and their forces were always spread thin. They couldn't afford to lose others to try and rescue her from her troubles. So to have someone that cares enough to not only come back for her but to also risk his own life in the process was a foreign concept to Xayah. She had a strange feeling in her chest as she reflected on the charmer's actions. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a small girl in night clothes standing in the doorway. The yellow feathers protruding from her cheeks her cheeks were enough to inform Xayah that this was the little girl she and Rakan had saved from Roku; Steya. The memory of the girl caused the nightmarish scenes of that night to pour into the forefront of the assassin's mind. The faces of all of those she couldn't save flashed before her eyes, filling her with deep regret. She pushed those feelings down to not worry the child standing before her but knew she would end up mourning later. Rakan seemed to pick up on her sorrow and gently placed a warm arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a half embrace. It gave Xayah a feeling of warmth and safety she wasn't used to, causing her to freeze up at first. Though, when he let go soon after to motion to the girl in the threshold, she could feel herself missing the contact.

"This is Steya from the northern forest," the charmer said, Steya nodding her head in response.

"Hello," Xayah said to the small girl, unsure of how to proceed. After a moment of awkward silence, the girl looked between the assassin and her companion and stepped forward. When she was in front of the two, she bowed deeply.

"Thank you for saving my life," the girl couldn't have been more than 10 years of age, as heard in the quiet meekness of her voice and her small stature.

"You're welcome…," Xayah trailed off. The moment was very bittersweet for the assassin.

"Steya was just telling me about her home," Rakan said after a moment, trying to break the second awkward silence that fell upon the three Lhotlan Vastaya. The charmer sat down on the bed next to Xayah and motioned to the desk chair across from him for Steya to sit, which she did.

"Yes. I'm from the northern forest. I lived in a small village near the edge," Xayah recalled hearing about the settlements in the far northern lands of her tribe. They bordered Ionian lands and typically held a mix of the Vastayan and Ionian cultures. While she held no disdain for the Vastaya that chose to live there, she was very wary of the Ionians that promised peace and chose to avoid the area. "My home was a wonderful place. There were a lot of nice people there. The Ionians would always bring food and medicine and games whenever they came to visit. My momma said that we gave them information about us in return," Xayah narrowed her eyes, wondering what information the Ionians wanted from her people in the north. "It was really nice. But then… the bad man came," Steya's voice dropped into a whisper towards the end of the sentence, signifying all of the horrible things the little Vastaya must have seen when her village was destroyed.

"What was your mother like?" the assassin asked, trying to get the girl to think of more positive things. To see something so violent at such a young age would be terrible on her mental state otherwise.

"She owned a flower shop in the village. I loved helping her put the bouquets together. I got to make the flowers for a wedding one time!" Steya brightened up and told the two older Vastaya about the flowers she put together and how she and her mother would pick them out of the fields every few days. After a few minutes, a growling stomach could be heard from the small girl. She blushed in embarrassment and tried to talk over the noise, though such a loud sound couldn't be hidden from the assassin's sharp ears.

"How about we go get something to eat and figure out what we're going to do next?" Xayah gave Steya a small smile as she said this, apparently appeasing the girl when she nodded vigorously and ran out to get changed. Rakan was still sitting on the bed, not having said much during the entire conversation in order to give Xayah a chance to get to know the Vastayan girl she had saved. But the assassin's attention was elsewhere. "Why did you come back?" she asked her companion quietly, gaze moving down at her hands to avoid looking at the charmer.

"Why wouldn't I?" Rakan looked at her downturned head, wanting to put an arm around her shoulder again to comfort her but not sure if he should. She had frozen up the last time he had done so.

"Steya could have been found outside, alone, by reinforcements and killed. Or she could have followed you back inside and been killed. Or _you_ could have been killed. You should have been taking a blast that strong! I'm not worth sacrificing you or Steya's lives. I chose to follow Roku down the tunnel. I knew what that meant," Xayah clenched her fists, blood beginning to well up where her long nails pushed into her soft palms. Rakan grabbed her wrists when he noticed, forcing her to look up at him. His intense blue gaze caused her to tense up, not sure of what he was going to do next.

"Why do you think you're not worth saving?" the charmer said quietly.

"I only live to see the Vastaya set free of the terrors brought onto them by the Ionians. I'm disposable as long as it means furthering the cause. It was the only chance I had to kill Roku," Rakan watched as the assassin's golden eyes shifted from sorrow and confusion to pride as she explained her purpose. It was clear she had been following the same path for years, throwing herself into one situation after another in order to help their people.

"No one is disposable…," he muttered, shifting his gaze as painful memories threatened to return to his mind.

"If I'm not willing to throw my life away for the cause then I'm not truly fighting for it," Xayah's voice grew strong and she turned to more fully face her companion.

"No. That makes you stupid. How can you expect to help if you die in the process?" Rakan shook his head at her. "Your skills and intelligence are probably worth more to the rebellion than your willingness to die for their cause. _You_ are worth too much to do such a thing. That's why I went back for you," the charmer smiled and moved one of his hands from her wrist to her cheek, the soft skin of his palm comforting the assassin. "Let me be there to protect you," her eyes widened at his words, surprised that someone cared this much about her. The charmer assumed the change in demeanor meant she was offended at his offer though, and he began talking fast. "Not that you need the protection or anything it would just be better because I can help you out and you won't be as stressed and-" he was cut off by Xayah bursting into laughter. After only hearing her laugh a handful of times since their eventful meeting, it was refreshing to hear after all of the serious conversation. He couldn't help but join in and they laughed together for a few moments, both of them flinching as they stressed their wounds.

"You're something else," she said when she calmed down, wiping a joyous tear from her eye.

"So?" Rakan looked at her expectantly for her response to his proposition, hands now in his lap. The assassin pondered, thinking about the implications of teaming up with the charmer. He had been very useful during the mission and actually had been able to keep up with her, which in it of itself was impressive. Despite his tendency to draw attention to himself, he can also manage to hide and sneak when he wanted to. Xayah had to admit that his usefulness would outweigh the struggles of working with another person and she wouldn't mind having the company. But there was one thing she needed to know.

"How did you get to me when I was going through the window? And how did you manage to keep us both alive through Roku's magic?" Xayah shot him a curious smile, leaning forward slightly in anticipation. She was quickly answered when a veil of golden light appeared around them. A similar light could be seen coming from Rakan's hands, informing her that this was his magic at work. "It's a shield," she muttered to herself, pushing her hand against the thin yet strong veil. Most Vastaya were able to utilize the natural magic that they protected. Many thought it was because they did not try to forcefully control it and the magic itself decided to move through them as if they were a part of the lands they lived in, giving them their abilities. Almost all Vastaya who could use magic, though, did not have much power. Xayah herself was considered fairly powerful since she could use her magic to pull back her daggers and manipulate them through the air. For someone to have enough influence over their magic that they could _create_ something was rare to say the least. Rakan could not only create something, but he could also utilize it to create a protective wall.

"This is probably the most useful thing I can do. I can also move magic to my feet to give me a bit of a boost when I run or jump or use the magic around myself and draw peoples' attention forcefully with the light. It's kind of like intense pheromones," the charmer closed his hand and the light faded from his hand, taking the shield around them with it. "That's not the coolest thing though. Do you mind if I pull a little bit of magic from you?" if anyone else were asking her, Xayah would have instantly attacked them for asking a question like that. Rakan has proven himself time and time again, though, so she gave him her hand. Reaching around to his cape, he pulled a feather off and held it in his hand. The charmer closed his eyes and his face warped in concentration, infusing his magic with the feather and giving it a dull golden glow. After he was done, he opened his eyes and placed the feather in Xayah's hand. After a moment, the feather grew brighter, turning from the dull gold into a vibrant sun. Rakan took the feather back after the glow stopped brightening and the magic flowed from the feather into his hand. He pulled a few of his bandages off to reveal a burn wound much like Xayah's, only on the opposite side. The charmer moved his magic-infused hand to the wound and the assassin watched as it began healing before her eyes. It wasn't much, but it was enough to cause the skin underneath his hand to turn from an angry red to a lighter pink in a matter of minutes.

"That's… amazing," Xayah said, scooting closer to examine the difference between the still wounded skin and the now healing pink above it. When she moved back and looked at him, she could see tiredness in his normally bright eyes. "It takes a lot out of you, huh?" he nodded in answer and dropped the feather on the ground, the glow completely gone.

"If I prepare an item with my magic it can absorb magic from other people, but only if I'm not touching it, otherwise it would just take more of mine. Then, if my magic is melded with someone else's, I can use it to heal myself or others. In my village, it was nice because I could help if anyone was injured. It's completely useless if I'm against someone that's an enemy, though. I obviously can't just walk up and drop something in their hand," Xayah pondered the issue for a moment, face lighting up when she thought of something. She pulled out one of her feather daggers and showed it to Rakan.

"Could you do it with something like this?" he nodded and she proceeded to throw it into the wall next to them, causing the charmer to flinch at the memory of her throwing it at _him_ a few nights prior. The assassin lifted her hand and it began to glow magenta. The dagger glowed as well and pulled from the wall back to Xayah's hand. She forced it to hover before her, showing him the way she used her magic. He recalled seeing the deadly force such control could cause a few nights prior when she turned Roku's guards into Swiss cheese. "What if I could teach you how to do that?" when Rakan saw her train of thought, his eyes widened in realization.

"That would be perfect! And, if you want, I can show you how to make a shield. I'm not sure if you can hold it for long but it would be strong enough to protect you from almost anything," liking the idea, the assassin smiled and nodded, excited to learn how control her magic to that degree.

"I'm ready!" Steya called out from the doorway, now wearing a cute pink dress with yellow spots that complemented her feathers nicely.

"I picked out some clothes for her when we got to town. Isn't she _cute_ ," Rakan fawned over his work and Xayah couldn't help but roll her eyes as she got up and kicked the male Vastaya out of the room so she could get changed. Her clothes were neatly folded in one of the lounging chairs in the room, her cloak hanging over the chair back. When she picked them up, the assassin noticed that they didn't seem damaged and that they were freshly cleaned, the blood that must have spattered from her injury nowhere to be seen.

"He said he wanted to make sure that you could still wear your pretty outfit. He spent the first night here stitching it up and cleaning everything," Steya said, still in the room. Xayah blushed at the child's words, smiling slightly at the thought of Rakan working on sewing everything up just so she could continue wearing it. Realizing she had been standing there thinking for far too long, she got changed as quickly as her wounds would allow her and walked out of the room with Steya so they could meet up with Rakan and find food.

 **A/N:** **A bit of a cool down after the last long, action-filled chapter plus a buttload of fluff. Hope you all enjoy! c:**


	5. Chapter 5

Despite normally holding herself to some sort of standard for politeness, Xayah couldn't hold back when a large plate of blooming vegetables was placed down in front of her. The smell of fresh Shuriman spices and the bright colors of the large variety of imported vegetables was too much for the assassin to handle. Disregarding the silverware provided, Xayah stuck her hands into the pile and shoveled the food into her mouth as soon as their server set it down. Said server took one look at her ravenous behavior and chuckled to himself before leaving to take care of other patrons. Rakan couldn't help but watch in awe as his companion devoured the plate he had ordered for all three of them in a matter of seconds. Once the plate was cleaned of all food, the charmer finally managed to shut his open jaw and speak. "That was… impressive," he searched the small inn they had decided to eat at for their server, glad at the moment that he had nabbed some money from the guards they had incapacitated back in The Capital before he had run off to try and get away from the pristine city. The charmer had known they would need the money for medical supplies and that he and Xayah definitely did not have enough between them to cover it. After he signaled to their server that they would want another plate, he turned back to the two female Vastaya only to notice Steya sadly looking at the empty plate in front of Xayah, her light hair hanging over her face. "Don't worry, Steya, I got another one. I won't let Xayah eat the whole thing this time," Rakan laughed and patted the young girl's head, much to her delight.

"What? I haven't eaten in days. What did you expect?" Xayah said as she picked some Kumungu root from her teeth with one of her daggers.

"I guess that's true," Rakan said as he smiled at her. She couldn't help but remember what Steya had said earlier about him working hard on her clothes and shifted her eyes away from his. The strange feeling from before had returned and the assassin wasn't sure what to do about it. Just then, their server returned with another plate of vegetables and a basket of freshly baked bread.

"Compliments of the owner. He wanted to thank you for your patronage and tell you that you make a cute family," the server said as he set the plate and basket down, hurrying off afterwards to take care of a group of people that had just walked in. Xayah froze in place, cheeks heating up rapidly. She shoved down the embarrassment and whatever Rakan's actions made her feel and jumped to a more comfortable and familiar emotion; anger. Placing both hands on the table, the assassin stood, her chair making a loud screech as it was pushed back. As she opened her mouth to tell the server, and the owner, off for their assumptions, a strong had pulled her back down into her seat. Rakan smiled and shook his head at her as he removed his hand from her wrist, a tingling feeling left behind as he did so. Xayah crossed her arms and huffed in indignation, only to give up the act a moment later to tear into the bread in front of her.

* * *

"So where are we right now?" Xayah asked after the three Vastaya finished their large meal.

"Beyond the plateau in a small town called Golden Crossing," he pulled out one of the maps of Demacia from her bag, knowing exactly where it was in the small pack, and pointed to the area the small town was in. They were further south now, right before The Great Barrier Mountains. Golden Crossing was situated between the gigantic mountains and the plateau that covers most of the country. What Xayah noticed, though, was the large distance from The Capital they were.

"You had to have been walking for almost an entire day to have gotten here…," Xayah looked at her companion, noticing the tired lines under the charmer's eyes for the first time since she woke up.

"You would have died if I hadn't done it in a day or we would have been found if I hadn't gone far enough," he met her gaze with strong blue eyes.

"You were wounded too!" the assassin's raised voice quieted the rest of the dining room. Rakan shrugged and smiled at her.

"I did what I thought was right," Xayah _tsked_ and leaned back, her now relaxed posture causing the other patrons to turn back to their conversations.

"I have to get back to Ionia to report Roku's death," the assassin turned away, grabbing a map of Runeterra from her bag, not noticing how her companion froze at the mention of the elder. Steya, on the other hand, knew what had transpired in the hidden passage of the massive house and decided not to say anything when she saw how Rakan reacted. He had saved her life and had been very good to her the past few days. The Vastayan girl may be young but she knew when to keep her mouth shut.

"We should go around the Marshes of Kaladoun and try to catch a boat out of Noxus. It should take us about a week to get to Ionia if there are boats available," Xayah said, outlining the path on the map in front of her. It hadn't been until recently that Ionia had decided to open trade with Noxus again. They needed the metal and coal the war-driven country provided and signed a very strict trade agreement that would give Ionia the help of neighboring countries if Noxus stepped out of line again. The people of Ionia still held disdain for their neighbors across the sea but they knew that politics shouldn't get in the way of making sure they had what they needed to survive. Worse come to worse, they use that metal to fight back the next time Noxus tries to rear its head.

Rakan unfroze when the assassin looked back up at him for his opinion on her travel plan, only to give slight pause when he realized she'd mentioned Noxus. Xayah raised an eyebrow, noticing this time, but decided not to ask when he nodded in agreement. She instead turned to Steya, the small girl in a bit of a food coma after the large meal. She snapped out of it when Xayah spoke. "What do you want to do? The rebellion would take you in if you come with us," Steya's green eyes widened at the prospect of having a home again after being taken from hers. She nodded vigorously and stood before bowing deeply in front of the assassin, similar to what she'd done earlier.

"I will do what I can to help and I promise to pay you back for helping me so much," she straightened up after and had pure determination in her eyes, showing how much the girl cared about her resolve.

"All right then. Let's get moving. We have a bit of walking ahead of us and the sooner we get there, the better," Xayah stood grabbed her bag, searching through it for some money to pay for their meal. When she saw that two gold coins were already on the table, the assassin raised a curious eyebrow at her companion. He shot her a smile and raised a bag of jingling coins, the Demacian symbol on the leather sack telling her where it had come from. She let out a short laugh and walked out of the inn, the other two Vastaya following her.

* * *

After two days of walking, the three Vastaya had only just started seeing the Marshes of Kaladoun on their left, their injuries causing a slower pace than Xayah was used to. Rakan would work on his and Xayah's wounds whenever he was able, the assassin providing her own magic to assist him, but he had to be careful about how much energy he burned since they were walking for most the day. On the first night, once they had set up camp with their minimal supplies, the charmer had basically collapsed from exhaustion without even eating dinner, Steya noting how Xayah would send worried glances his way whenever she wasn't attending to the fire. It had been a very quiet night. The current night was much different. While Rakan was tired, like the previous night, he was awake enough to pretend otherwise and sat by the fire with the two female Vastaya as Xayah made dinner, trying to start conversations whenever silence threaten to overcome them. The assassin appreciated the effort, sure that their young companion hated her tendency to stay quiet, but she could see the still-present tired lines under the charmer's eyes from the long day of walking, healing, and the strain of his own wounds. So she broke out of her comfort zone and helped out. "So, Steya, can you use any magic?" Xayah turned from the nuts and berries she was cooking on the fire they were all sitting around and looked at the small girl.

"My mom said I have a lot of potential but I couldn't do anything like you or Rakan," Steya said, pulling her eyes from the delicious smelling meal in front of her.

"Could she do anything?" Rakan asked, his head resting on the palm of his hand to keep himself upright and awake but simultaneously relaxed.

"She would make the flowers grow faster," Steya picked up a nearby flower-like weed to demonstrate as best she could, moving the stem of the flower around and making various noises. "Like this," Rakan let out a chuckle and Xayah cracked a small smile at the girl's antics. Despite the terror of what happened to her, she was still so pure and innocent.

"I'm sure you'll be able to do the same one day," Xayah said, meaning every word.

"Maybe…," sadness appeared in the young girl's eyes. "I can't even make a blade of grass grow and now that my mom can't teach me…," the crackling of the fire was the only thing heard for a few minutes after Steya spoke of her troubles.

"Give me your hand," Rakan said as he pulled a feather from his cape, breaking the silence. Steya obliged and stuck her small hand out to the charmer, the sadness on her face replaced by curiosity and excitement. Rakan infused his magic into the feather, the faint golden glow familiar to Xayah after seeing it numerous times. The charmer then placed the feather into Steya's hand and moved his own away to allow the girl's magic to be absorbed by his own. The assassin didn't honestly expect much since Steya was still fairly young. To her surprise, though, the feather's previously dull glow grew incredibly bright in the girl's grasp, a brightness Xayah herself could never hope to achieve doing the same task. The assassin's eyes widened at the sight, looking over at Rakan to see the same expression mirrored on his face. "Your mom wasn't lying, Steya," the young Vastaya's face lit up almost as brightly as the feather after hearing the compliment.

"Really?!" she turned from Rakan back to the feather, holding it more confidently now.

"Yeah. Me and Xayah are going to be working on our own magic on the way to Noxus. If you want, we can help you unlock yours," Steya nodded happily at the proposition, excitement evident in her movements. "All right then. We'll start tomorrow," Xayah almost spoke up to badger Rakan about using even more of his magic throughout their travels, sure he would burn out if he tried, but decided against it when she saw how happy the prospect of learning made her companion and the young girl across from him. The assassin had to admit that she also felt the butterflies of anticipation fluttering in her stomach at the thought of learning how to better utilize the thing she spent most of her life protecting.

After Rakan was done telling Steya about all the things she would learn on their short journey, he put out the fire and pulled off his cape to prepare for bed. Steya had fallen asleep as soon as he had finished talking, the small girl breathing deeply with her head resting on Rakan's pack. His other companion was sitting on a tree branch above their small camp. The assassin appeared to be sleeping, her body lax, but Rakan knew better. Her long, red ears were tensed, no doubt listening to the sounds of the forest around them for anything suspicious. A devious thought entered the charmer's mind and he willed his magic to the soles of his feet, leaping upwards a moment later. He landed on a thick branch almost directly across from Xayah, causing a soft _thump_ when he hit it. The assassin visibly flinched at the sudden appearance of her companion. When she turned to face him, though, her expression was neutral, attempting to hide the fact that he had surprised her. Rakan let out a quiet chuckle and settled himself against the trunk of his tree. "You should stay on the ground and watch Steya," Xayah turned away to try and hide the light blush on her face from the embarrassment of being caught off-guard by her traveling partner. She wasn't used to having others in close proximity while she traveled and, after he had stopped talking and things had quieted down, she had forgotten he was there.

"It's fine. I'm sure you'd hear anyone coming from miles away," Rakan said as he bunched up his cape and put it behind his head. Xayah made a small noise of agreement and looked up at the sky, the moon casting a soft white light upon the forest despite being only a quarter full. The moon's phase showed how short of a time Xayah had spent with the man across from her, only about a week in total, but she had already grown to trust him as much as any of her closest allies in the rebellion. Throughout the amount of time she'd known him, the assassin hadn't felt any deceit or other negative qualities from the charmer with the exception of how much he flaunted himself around. Xayah thought it was well deserved, though. The Vastayan man was gorgeous. He was incredibly fit and made sure everyone knew it by walking around without a shirt all the time. His smile and perfectly white teeth let off a shine that contested the sun itself. His hair was always sticking up in a stylish manner, even after just waking up. Xayah's favorite part about the charmer, though, was his expressive clear blue eyes. They tended to stay a light shade that looked similar to the midday sky with no cloud in sight, a perfect description for how he normally carried himself. Whenever he was sad or distressed, they would shift to a cloudy dawn gray to reflect the worry he was feeling. The most interesting shift was when he was angry, his irises changing to a dark and stormy blue. Xayah found it fascinating how she could tell exactly how he was feeling by just taking a look at the two orbs. Even now she was looking at them, trying to decipher the charmer's current mood. He seemed relaxed enough, ignoring the residual tiredness that was obvious in his features no matter how much he tried to hide it. Rakan was studying her with the same curious gaze she was sure she had, the realization that they were making eye contact causing her to turn away due to the strange feeling bubbling in her stomach again. After a few moments of silence, soft humming coming from her companion pulled her attention back to him. It was a nice, slow melody that carried a hint of sadness.

"What's that?" Xayah asked quietly as soon as he finished.

"It's a lullaby known by most of the Vastaya in the western forest. It sings of a noble warrior, betrayed by his people, who must carry out his mission on his own," Rakan explained, meeting her eyes once again.

"It's very pretty," the assassin said, running over the tune in her head.

"There are much better songs, happier songs, that I could sing for you but that one is one of my favorites. The melody seems to carry a sort of magic on its own that makes you feel like you're a part of the story," Xayah wondered what it would be like to have everyone you thought cared turn their backs on you and force you to carry on alone. It was a sad thought.

"I'm going to get some rest before tomorrow. Good night, Xayah," Rakan closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, trying to get comfortable.

"Good night, Rakan," Xayah said quietly before turning on her side to better listen to the sounds of the forest, not noticing her companion smile at her words.

* * *

They had decided to walk until midday before stopping to work on their magic, Rakan explaining to Steya what she would need to do before they came upon a clearing. Since the charmer had accelerated the healing of their wounds tremendously, they could afford to stop for a few hours a day to train and still get to Noxus on schedule. The older Vastaya set down their packs against one of the sparse trees in the wide open area and walked to the center of the clearing, Steya not far behind. "We'll be seeing a lot more areas like this the closer we get to Noxus. The forest should completely end by the time we stop walking for the night tomorrow," Xayah said, informing the other two about their current location. The midday sun was beating down on them and the temperate climate was just slightly too hot to be comfortable. Steya's light golden locks shone in the bright sun as she bent to sit down on the long grass, the other two Vastaya following in suit. "I guess we should explain to each other what we're doing today and just try to work on it. Rakan, you're going to try to create your own feather dagger," Xayah said, motioning to the charmer as she spoke.

"Create?" Rakan asked, not sure what she meant. The assassin lifted her hand and her magic pulsed, creating one of her signature feather daggers in the palm of her hand. "So that's why they never seem to run out… Well, I guess you should work on trying to make your magic into a tangible wall. Steya, you just need to concentrate on feeling the flow of magic within you," the charmer instructed, the three Vastaya breaking off to work on their magic.

After a few hours, Rakan had been successful in creating his feather dagger, the bright yellow color of the feather reflecting his ownership of the small weapon. Xayah could form her magic into a wall in front of her, though it wasn't yet tangible. The effort it had taken her to do what she had alone left her breathless, though, and she wondered how Rakan managed to create the shield with such ease. Steya hadn't had much luck with her task and decided to spend most of their downtime resting and watching Xayah attempt to create part of her shield. As they were gathering their things and leaving the clearing, the assassin heard the _snap_ of a twig being stepped on behind them. She paused and looked behind her as Rakan and Steya began walking away, not noticing the fact she had stopped. Xayah scanned the forest, looking for any hint of movement in the trees. After a moment, she heard another _snap_ and saw a shadow dart through the brush. Without hesitation, the assassin took one of her daggers and launched it at the shadow, the _thunk_ of the dagger hitting a trunk muffled by the body of her target. She ran off in the direction of her dagger, the sudden noise of her running through the long blades of grass gaining the attention of her two companions. Xayah disregarded them and leaped into the brush only to find that all she hit was the leg of a small, still-squirming rabbit. She blinked once in surprise at the discovery, Rakan coming up behind her to see what she had run off for. "Sorry. I could have sworn someone was following us," Xayah pulled her dagger from the small creature's leg and gathered it into her arms, its injury keeping it from moving around much. "Do you have enough energy to heal it?" the assassin asked, looking at her companion. The charmer nodded and quickly prepared a feather, handing it to her to give it healing energy. Afterwards, he placed it on the leg of the rabbit, the glowing light quickly healing the clean puncture wound. Xayah placed it on the ground after, the rabbit taking a second to stretch its newly healed leg before scampering off. The two Vastaya left shortly after, the assassin casting one more glance behind them before they moved on.

 **A/N: Hey all! It was a holiday weekend so I decided to take a couple days to feed in soloq with my boyfriend before going back to work for the week haha. Here's Chapter 5! I promise the next chapter will be much more exciting than this one and I will try my best to get it up by Sunday! If you all have any questions, please leave a review or PM me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Keep in mind, though, if you leave a review on anon I cannot respond to you! Thank you for all of your kind comments and I'll see you again soon :)**


	6. Chapter 6

When the three Vastaya stopped the next day, the temperate forests of Demacia were almost completely gone, the last of them at the group's back. They had passed Mount Gargantuan earlier in the morning, the giant mountain still visible from their current location and the peak above the clouds. The clearing they had decided to stop in was in front of the Mogron Pass, a smooth, natural path that split the Great Barrier Mountains and the Tempest Flats. The Shurima Desert was beyond the pass, Xayah able to see the sea of sand looming through the two mountain ranges in the distance. The assassin had only visited the desert once for a mission a few years ago and, after a fairly traumatic encounter with a Shuriman mercenary and her crossblade, vouched to never return. She was glad to be putting the desert behind her once again by the time they would make camp for the night. The Ironspike Mountains were also now visible since they broke out of the tree line, Piltover and Zaun not far beyond the natural barrier. The change of scenery and landmarks meant the three Vastaya were only at the halfway point by the middle of the fourth day of their journey. It appeared as if they were behind schedule but, based on how much distance they had covered in the last day, now that her and Rakan's wounds were almost completely healed, the assassin figured they would actually arrive in Noxus half a day earlier than planned.

They had to set their minimal amount of things down near a large rock to stop for lunch and training due to the clearing being filled with long grass that came up to Xayah's waist. Afterwards, Steya immediately sat down and closed her eyes to focus on finding the flow of her magic, completely hidden by the tall stalks around her small form. Rakan had given her advice the previous night to help the young girl after her unsuccessful first day, telling her to not try and force the discovery of her powers but to instead just feel the magic in the nature around her. Since the charmer had already figured out what he needed to perfect the offensive side of his healing abilities, he spent the time they stopped helping the two female Vastaya with their goals.

"So, you want to focus all of your magic into your hands and visualize the wall," Xayah did this quickly, having figured it out already the day prior. The translucent, magenta wall was around the size of a small window when it appeared in front of her outstretched arms. While doing it quickly, the assassin could feel the strain it was putting on her. This was the first time she had attempted to utilize her magic like this and her body was making sure she didn't forget the unfamiliarity of it all. "Now, to make it tangible, you have to maintain the wall while solidifying your magic. Think about it like you're using your magic to create a rock," Rakan was speaking from behind her, his calm, instructing voice helping her concentrate on the task. Xayah held the wall with her left hand and pulsed more magic into it with her right, trying to turn it into a solid object. "Open your eyes, Xayah," her companion spoke, his voice coming from in front of her now. She opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them in the first place, and saw Rakan standing in front of her palms, the sharp nails of his right hand on her small barrier. He pushed his hand into the attempted shield, the wall bending around his fingers to create a sort of glove. Despite the amount of force being put on the barrier, it held strong. "Nicely done," Rakan said, pulling his hand from the absorbent veil. He created a sharp feather dagger in his hand and pushed the point into the wall next. As with his nails, the barrier did not break under the pressure but simply warped around the dagger.

"It needs to be much stiffer," Xayah muttered tiredly, releasing her hold on the malleable shield. The assassin's magic faded into simple magenta sparkles in the wind. She looked away from her companion, disappointment spreading across her features.

"Why so glum?" the charmer's face appeared in her field of vision, turned sideways due to how he had to bend over to see her eyes. The strange position that halved his height and almost buried him in the tall grass didn't seem to bother him and there was no discomfort on his face, as if he moved like that regularly. Xayah figured his flexibility was due to how often he said he danced when he was in the western forest.

"A shield that can be bent is a useless shield," the assassin said, rolling her eyes and smiling slightly at his distorted figure.

"Not necessarily," Rakan said as he stood up straight, Xayah's gaze following him. "As long as a shield is strong, the… bendiness of it doesn't matter,"

" _Bendiness_?" Xayah questioned, giggling slightly at his made up word, mood improving significantly. "What do you mean by that?" she said as her eyes lit up with curiosity.

"If you make the shield big enough, you could use it to closely cover your entire body and protect yourself from pretty much everything. It's not quite as efficient as a firm wall since the force of any attack will still hit you but it's a hell of a lot better than having nothing," Xayah considered his words, imagining going out into a battle with a suit of impenetrable armor around her. "It would be hard to maintain for long right now, since you don't have much practice with the continuous use or shaping of magic, but even now it could save you from a fatal situation,"

"You're right. I hadn't even considered using it like that," the assassin contemplated how to best practice the unusual usage of her shield when Rakan stopped her.

"You should stop for today to keep yourself from getting burned out. Let's go help Steya," Xayah agreed and the charmer placed a hand between her shoulders to lead her to their young companion since he knew where she was sitting among the tall grass. The assassin would never admit how much she loved the feeling of the charmer's hand on her back during the brief walk to where Steya was in the field. When they reached her, the Vastayan girl was focusing intently on a small, yellow flower bud on the ground in front of her, not looking up with the other two Vastaya appeared.

"I think I'm moving it, Rakan," she said quietly, light eyes squinting in concentrating. Xayah looked at the point of the girl's focus, assuming at first that the small plant was simply swaying in the breeze. After looking at it for a few moments, though, Xayah watched as the plant seemed to move unnaturally.

"Great job Steya! You're really getting the hang of it. I told you that you could do it," Rakan squatted down in the grass and watched as Steya manipulated the flower's movement. "Now, use your hands to help move your magic out of your body and into the flower. See if you can make it grow a bit," the girl nodded and moved her right hand to hover above the plant. Her blonde eyebrows furrowed as she focused her energy, a pale green glow enveloping her hand. It wasn't very steady, the light dimming and brightening occasionally, but the flower began to stretch and the petals unfurled, revealing a beautiful sunny yellow. Steya's face lit up, eyes wide with wonder when she saw what she was doing. The shift from intense concentration caused her magic to fall away but the young Vastaya's eyes were still bright when she turned to her older companions.

"I did it! Rakan, Xayah, did you see? It grew!" Steya said, excited to start fully realizing the extent of her powers.

"You did it!" Rakan picked the young girl up and spun her around, both laughing happily.

"Did you see, Xayah?" Steya asked after Rakan set her down.

"I did. It was very impre-" a twig snapping behind them caused Xayah to whip her head towards the small tree line they had come from. This time, Rakan and Steya heard the noise as well, the former pushing the latter behind him. Xayah's eyes flitted along the trees, trying to see if something was hiding in their shadows.

"Xayah, duck!" Rakan shouted, the assassin not even hesitating before heeding her companion's warning and dropping to the ground. A _whoosh_ sounded from above her as an unkempt man swung an axe at the space where she used to be. After he realized he had missed, he dove back into the long grass around them. Despite his larger size, Xayah wasn't able to quickly track his movements in the grass.

"Everyone, get down," she called to her companions from the ground, crawling over to their general area afterwards. When the assassin found them, she saw how Steya's green eyes were wide with fear after the shocking attack. Xayah scooted over to the young girl and wrapped a protective arm around her small body. "It'll be okay," Xayah whispered to her younger companion before looking at the charmer. "Did you get a good look at him?" she asked quietly. If she could get information about what the assailant looked like or where he was from, she could more easily predict his attack patterns.

"He was a Noxian bandit. If he's part of a gang, there are probably 14 or 15 others surrounding us right now," Rakan informed her. She would have to ask later how he knew that from a passing glance. For now, though, they needed a plan.

"We have to figure out a way to track them in the grass…," Xayah said, mostly to herself. If the bandits were truly Noxian, they should be going for the kill with almost every attack. A small gust of wind brushed the grass in the clearing at that moment, the increased strength from the soft breezes before and the clouds darkening above them signifying that a storm was on the way. A quiet whizzing noise carried through the air and the assassin immediately pulled Steya under her and pushed them both as close to the ground as she could. Half a second later, an arrow collided with a shield Rakan had quickly created after he heard the sound of the arrow flying. A few more arrows hit the shield before there was silence in the clearing once again. The charmer dropped the shield and jerked his chin in a direction for them to move. Once they had crawled a few feet away from their previous location, Xayah thought of an idea for how the bandits were tracking them. "They're using the wind. Anywhere there's a large part of grass not moving, there's probably someone there," the assassin explained, pointing out how the long grass around them wasn't moving much due to their bodies blocking it. "Rakan, I need you to distract them while Steya and I run for higher ground. I'm going to try and pick them off one by one. Steya, make sure you stay behind me," Rakan nodded in agreement and crawled off to find a good angle to get the bandits' attention from. Xayah and Steya waited in silence until the charmer began running through the tall grass with a bright, golden shield around him. Arrows began falling from every direction and, every so often, one of the bandits would leap from the grass to attempt to break the shield with their held weapon, only to have it harmlessly bounce off of the strong barrier. While the bandits were busy, Xayah and Steya ran off towards the tree line, climbing the first tree that had any sort of cover. "Keep watch for anyone on the ground. If you see someone near us, yell," Xayah instructed before turning her attention to the charmer. She watched as Rakan dove back into the grass, his job done, and began stealthily moving toward her and Steya. The assassin made sure to keep an idea of his location so that she wouldn't accidently hit him and waited for another gust of wind to sweep the clearing. As soon as it did, she spotted five areas of grass other than where Rakan was that did not sway normally. Accounting for the wind speed and direction, Xayah threw a dagger at the nearest area, the whistle of her signature weapon drowned out by the sounds of the gust in the trees. As the dagger entered the grass, though, a shout could be heard before it was cut off by its owner's quick death. The assassin rinsed and repeated the same process until all five bandits in the field were dead. Rakan made it to the tree they were in as Xayah threw the last dagger and climbed up quickly.

"That should be about a third of them taken care of. I didn't see the others while I was down there. Did you?" he asked, while Xayah kept her eyes on the clearing to see if any other bandits had entered the tall grass. After confirming no unusual movement among the stalks, she shook her head.

"Maybe they ran when you killed their friends…," Steya said quietly. Xayah turned to face her and placed her hands on the young girl's shoulders.

"I will do anything to protect those I care about, even if it means killing others," Xayah stared directly into Steya's eyes as she spoke, trying to get the young Vastaya to understand. Steya's cheeks burned bright red and her yellow feathers bristled slightly in shame. When she nodded to show her understanding, Xayah released her and scanned the area around them for the remaining bandits, silently hoping Steya had been right with her previous assumption. An arrow whizzing past her ear told the assassin otherwise. Xayah swore and dropped out of the tree before running back into the cover of the thin forest, knowing that the others would follow her. The assassin weaved between the branches that grew thicker the further she ran into the forests of Demacia only to be stopped by a strong arm being shoved out in front of her path. She tried to duck under it and, instead of getting around the new obstacle as she expected, got yanked backwards, the force of the pull dislocating her shoulder. A large man dressed in dark clothes and a bandana covering his face grabbed her arm with his other hand and threw them both to the ground, grinding his elbow into her stomach as he did so and knocking the wind out of the assassin. Xayah felt one of her ribs crack under the intense force and pain flared up from her chest, her lack of air being the only reason she didn't cry out. The bandit that had stopped her scoffed as he got off of her and she writhed in pain.

"You're a fast little birdy, huh?" Xayah's golden eyes were on fire as she glared at the man, the outlines of his smirk visible under the bandana he wore. Grabbing her arm, he dragged the assassin back towards the clearing, stopping right before the long grass began. There were about ten other men there, standing in a half circle, all wearing similar dark clothing and some sporting the same bandana on their face. Rakan was on the ground in front of the men, a large bruise about the size of a foot on his stomach and his arm twisted at a strange angle. Based on the pain she felt, Xayah was sure she had a very similar bruise and messed up arm, the only difference being that her bruise was probably smaller and looked more like an elbow. Steya was sitting next to him, eyes on the ground and fear obvious as she shook slightly, though not injured in any obvious way. Xayah was dropped on the ground next to her young companion and she shot the girl a small smile of apology. They were probably going to die here. One of the bandits stepped in front of them, the few gold pieces on his clothes indicating he was the leader of the gang.

"Well, well… what do we have here? A few birds with a bit too much gold on their hands, eh?" he said, bending down and showing them a pouch he was holding, the crest of Demacia stamped in the leather. Xayah gritted her teeth and started flying through escape plans knowing that there was no way these bandits were just after their gold, especially since the leader clearly already had a decent amount of money. "You know, there's someone in Noxus who likes to keep little birdies like you around for… entertainment purposes," the leader grinned, his teeth sharp like a shark's.

"You seem pretty animal-like for someone who sells Vastaya," Xayah grumbled, only to be kicked in the ribs. She quickly bit down on her tongue to keep herself from screaming out and giving the leader the satisfaction of hearing her in pain.

"I'm nothing like you filthy creatures. My teeth are like this for the intimidation factor. It also makes shit like you easier to kill. You're lucky I value money more than pride," the leader sneered and stood back up to address his men. "We're taking them to Noxus and selling them to Madame Val. Tie them up," Steya watched as Rakan and Xayah's arms were tied behind them, Rakan's face pale and reflecting sheer terror she had never seen before in his features, due to what, though, she did not know. Xayah was clearly in pain, each rough movement the bandits forced upon her causing her to flinch and groan. Both of the older Vastaya were then knocked out by the bandits, too incapacitated now to save them all from bandits. Steya cursed her weakness, the helplessness she felt reminding the young girl of how her village was taken over by a similarly disgusting group of people. _Not again._ the girl thought, images flashing through her mind of the death and destruction she had witnessed before. _Don't take my family from me again._ Her hands were pulled behind her and rough rope was tied around her wrists before she was also sent into forced unconsciousness.

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter :) I'm going to start giving myself 10 days between chapters to update due to being busy with work and some personal issues. Hope you all enjoy! Thank you for all of the nice reviews :3**


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